Review: Countdown2Escape - Return to Cabin Fever

RATING: 4 Keys RESULT: Win REMAINING: 12:53

Welcome to East Texas. Will you find a fortune or leave empty handed?

Story

One day on a weekend trip through East Texas, you come across a small town, one that you overheard a conversation at a gas pump about. Here, there resides a cabin that has been abandoned for many years. The part that really sparks your interest, however, is that there is rumored to be a large stash of money inside from Sam Bass, an old train robber who use to live in the area. After looking it up, you found that his biggest grab was about $60,000 in one robbery alone, but it is said some of it was never found. So you decide you want to take your best and brightest group of friends and go find the money. Can you find the money hidden inside the cabin?

You must find out if the money is merely an urban legend or if the stash is hidden somewhere inside this Texas cabin. The money is not in plain sight through the windows, so you must investigate further – where would a thief hide his money?

Return to Cabin Fever evokes the mood of actually breaking into an old, rustic cabin.

Scenic

Beginning in the front yard of the cabin, a grassy area leads up to the wooden porch. The light wood has a square window on each side of the door. The door itself is locked shut.

Once inside the cabin, the Texas-flavored motif continues. A cattle rug rests on the floor. Several metal lone stars and state silhouettes decorate the space. A large Texas map is plastered on the wall, and there is a floor fan in the corner for those hot summers.

The thing that sticks out the most is an odd looking rectangular piece of furniture with a few locks holding it together – What could that be? Is that where the money is hidden?

Puzzles

In some circumstances, it is a shame that escape rooms do not allow for brute force. To gain entry to the cabin, you can’t simply just kick in the door. After all, if the legend is true, Sam Bass would not want it to be too easy to break in and find his stolen fortune.

The puzzles are non-linear, so our entire team was able to work on different tasks at the same time. Many of the activities in Return to Cabin Fever include observation and scavenging. It is necessary to relate several objects to one another. There is also one particularly enjoyable physical task that, again, relates to the overall Texas theme.

Return to Cabin Fever has fewer puzzles than the other rooms at Countdown2Escape, however, this is not a surprise being rated as being their easiest room. One or two puzzles could have been added to the game while still maintaining its difficulty level. Each task is within reach of beginners and equally as enjoyable for enthusiasts.

Overall

Return to Cabin Fever made us feel like we were breaking into a real cabin in East Texas – it even had a cabin smell to it. The cabin was appropriately decorated with Texas memorabilia such as Texas stars and license plates. There was even a bear rug sprawled across the floor – something that’d be rare to find anywhere outside of a cabin.

While the Return to Cabin Fever was a bit light on its narrative, the puzzles were all intuitive and enjoyable. Even though some of the tasks felt like puzzles for puzzle’s sake, they were all Texas inspired and made sense with the overall rustic cabin setting. Now it’s up to you to discover if the legend of Sam Bass is true – you may strike it rich!